Garment hanger



y 69 M. H. PANNING 3,445,045

GARMENT HANGER Filed April 26. 1967 19 14 Q 25' J9 22 Z9 22 25 gig United States Patent 3,445,045 GARMENT HANGER Martin H. Panning, 304 Sunny Lane, Thiensville, Wis. 53092 Filed Apr. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 633,740 Int. Cl. A41d 27/22 U.S. Cl. 223-95 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment hanger of molded one-piece plastic material. The hanger includes movable arm portions which are extended to engage the garment. The material is a semiflexible plastic enabling hinging between the movable parts of the hanger while the hanger is so shaped that the various parts thereof are relatively rigid.

This invention is directed to new and useful improvements in garment hangers of the type used to suspend trousers or skirts.

The major purposes of the present invention are to so form a garment hanger with movable arm portions to engage a garment that the overall hanger may be formed as a one-piece molded plastic article, thus enabling production of hangers at low prices, all while retaining sufficient strength in the hanger body to hold securely and suspend garments on the hanger.

These and other purposes of the invention will become more apparent in the course of the ensuing specification and claims, when taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a hanger formed in accordance with the principles of the invention with one hanger section being shown in one position and another hanger section being shown in a different position;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of the hanger illustrated in FIGURE 1 while illustrating the cross-sectional configuration of various parts of the hanger;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section of the hanger taken on the section lines 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-section of another portion of the hanger taken on the section lines 44 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a side view of a hanger formed in accordance with the principles of the invention; and

FIGURE '6 is a diagrammatic view of the hanger of FIGURE 1 with certain elements added to the hanger.

Like elements are designated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

With specific reference now to the drawings, and in the first instance to FIGURE 1, a unitary, one-piece, molded plastic body is shown as comprising two sections generally designated at and 11. The sections 10 and 11 are formed identically. It should be understood that the section 11 in FIGURE 1 has various parts thereof illustrated in a different operative position than the position of the corresponding parts in section 10 in FIGURE 1. The two sections are connected together by a relatively thin spanning and connecting section .12. The sections 10 and 11 as well as the connecting section 12 are formed from the same material. The material used in the formation of the article is a semifiexible plastic such as polypropylene. Other plastics may be used as long as they have the property of allowing fiexure thereof with relatively light manual pressure applied to relatively thin sections of the plastic while being relatively rigid and possessing good strength characteristics in-thicker sections.

Since the two sections 10 and 11 are identical, the parts for only a single section will be described herein. The corresponding parts of the two sections are labeled with similar characters in the drawings. Each section in- 3,445,045 Patented May 20, 1969 ice eludes an elongated generally rectilinear shank portion 13 at one end of which a hook portion 14 is formed so as to allow suspension of the article from a rod, hook or other suspending device. Section 12 extends between the hook portion of the two sections. The other end of the shank 13 carries arms which extend laterally from opposite sides of the shank portion 13. For example, upper arms 15 and 16 extend laterally outwardly in opposite directions from the shank portion 13 while lower arms 17 and -18 extend laterally outwardly in opposite directions from the extreme end of the shank portion 13. The arms 15 and 17 extend generally parallel to one another in spaced relation as illustrated, as do the arms 16 and 18. Each of the arms 15, 16, 17 and 18 is joined to the shank 13 by means of a relatively thin spanning and connecting section 19.

A typical cross-section of the spanning and connecting sections is illustrated in FIGURE 4. These sections have sufiicient thinness as to enable folding movement of the arms toward the shank 13 and generally to the position illustrated in the upper section 11 of FIGURE 1. These sections have a width sufiicient substantially to resist swinging or rotary movement of the arms about the axis of shank 13.

The outer ends of the arms 15 and 17 are connected to a garment engaging portion 20 as by means of relatively thin spanning and connecting sections 21 which have a thinness and width similar to the section 19 so as to allow folding movement of the garment engaging portion 20 with respect to the arms 15 and 17. The arms 16 and 18 are connected to .a similar garment engaging portion 22 as by means of thin relatively connecting sections 23' of the same type as the sections 21. The garment engaging portions 20' and 22 are identically formed and have a cross-section as illustrated in FIGURE 3. The outermost edges 24 and 25 of the portions 20 and 22, respectively, are given a slight taper so that these edges are inclined to the axis of shank 13 by a few degrees when the arms extend generally perpendicular to this axis as is illustrated by the position of the parts in section 10 of FIGURE 1. This taper is provided to match, more or less, the taper usually found in the cuffs of mens trousers with which the hanger is used, or found in the waist portion of a skirt. The faces of these edges are serrated as shown to enhance the gripping action.

Each upper arm may include an upstanding portion 26 formed generally medially of the length of the arms and extending in the direction of the hook portion 14. These tabs enable convenient gripping of the arms for manipulation thereof.

It is preferable to mold the shank portion, hook 14 and arms 15, 16, 17 and 18, with a cross-section similar to that of an I-beam as is illustrated in FIGURE 2. This cross-sectional configuration resists bending and twisting of the arms, shank, hook and garment engaging portions except at the relatively thin and connecting sections.

It is preferable to form abutment surfaces between the shank and arms to limit movement of the arms to the position where they are perpendicular to the shank. For example, arms 15 and 16 may include stop elements 27 molded integrally therewith in a position to engage the shank 13 when the arms extend perpendicular as shown in FIGURE 6. The stop elements move away from the shank 13 when the arms are folded toward the shank.

When using the hanger, the two sections 10 and 11 are folded toward one another to a position where they are generally alongside one another as is illustrated in FIGURE 5. The user may then grasp the tabs 26 and fold the .arms on each side of the shank in generally parallelogram fashion toward the shank and toward the position illustrated by the sections 11 in FIGURE 1. The arms and garment portions 20 and 22 are then inserted within a trouser leg adjacent the cuff. The arms are then moved or expanded toward the position illustrated by the section in FIGURE 1 wherein the arms extend generally perpendicular to the shank 13. At this position the trouser engaging portions and 22 will frictionally grip the inside of the trousers. The weight of the trousers acts downwardly on the arms to move them toward the expanded position shown by section 10. Section 10 is used for one trouser leg, while section 11 is used to suspend the other trouser leg of a. pair of pants.

The hanger may be used with various sizes of trousers ranging from those having an inside cuff dimension slightly greater than the distance between the surfaces 24 and 25, when the arms are in the folded position illustrated in section 11, to those having an inside cutf dimension equal to or less than the distance between the portions 24 and 25 in the fully expanded position. These cuff dimensions are those between opposite sides of the inner surfaces of the cuffs when the cuff end portions of the trousers are substantially flat.

The particular hanger disclosed herein may be easily molded. The particular configuration provides generally uniform wall thickness to enhance the molding operation, While at the same time providing flexure at the hinge points and suflicient stiffness and rigidity in the remainder of the article.

Both sections 10 and 11 are molded in the expanded position as shown by the form of the section 10 in FIGURE 1. This .provides a normal position of both sections similar to the appearance of section 10 in FIG- URE 1. The resilience of the plastic material tends to move each section from the folded position represented by section 11 in FIGURE 1 to the expanded position represented by section 10.

It should be understood that a hanger incorporating the principles disclosed herein may be made up in a single section for use in suspending other garments, as, for example, womens skirts.

Whereas I have shown and described an operative form of the invention, it should be understood that this showing and description thereof should be taken in an illustrative or diagrammatic sense only. There are modifications to the invention which will fall within the scope and spirit thereof and which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The scope of the invention should be measured only by the scope of the hereinafter appended claims.

I claim:

1. A unitary one-piece molded plastic hanger body of the trouser and skirt suspending type comprising an elongated shank having a hook at one end of the shank and elongated arms extending in opposite directions from the other end portion of the shank, said arms normally extending generally perpendicular to said shank, and means comprising a thin spanning and connecting section between each arm and said shank to allow folding of said arms upwardly toward said shank and away from said shank to normal positions wherein said arms extend generally perpendicular to the axis of said shank, said connecting and spanning sections having widths of sufiicient dimensions to resist rotational movement of said arms with relation to the axis of said shank, the resiliency of said spanning and connecting sections being such as to bias said arms toward said normal positions, the material of said arms, shank and hook being rigid to resist distortion thereof whereby said arms, shank and hook remain relatively rigid to enable extension of said arms within a garment so as to suspend a garment from said arms when said arms extend generally perpendicular to said shank, and garment engaging means at the outer end of each arm.

2. The structure of claim 9 wherein said elongated arms are plural, generally parallel arms extending from each side of said shank with one arm being spaced above the other arm on each side of said shank, each arm being connected to said shank by said thin spanning and connecting section, and said garment-engaging means connecting together the end portions of said elongated arms at each side.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said body includes two identical hanger bodies having a relatively thin spanning and connecting section extends between the hooks of the two hanger bodies.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said body has a pair of arms extending from one side of said shank and a pair of arms extending from the other side of said shank, the arms on each side of said shank being spaced from one another While being generally parallel to one another, said garment engaging means and said arms have therebetween relatively thin spanning and connecting sections.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said garment engaging means includes outer end surfaces extending downwardly and outwardly at a slight angle to the axis of said shank.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said shank, arms and book have an I-beam cross-sectional configuration.

7. The structure of claim 1 wherein stop means are provided to limit movement of said arms in one direction to a position generally perpendicular to the axis of said shank while allowing movement in the opposite direction toward said shank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,145,503 l/1939 Anderson 223 2,168,647 8/1939 Herman 22395 2,793,762 5/ 1957 Broussard. 3,307,753 3/1967 Levine et al. 22395 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,445,045 May 20, 1969 Martin H Panning It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 16, the claim reference numeral "9" should read l Signed and sealed this 21st day of April 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

